Tikhonova N.E. Resourcefullness of the Mass Strata of Population: State and Dynamics in 2008-2020. Monitoring of Public Opinion: Economic and Social Changes. 2021. No. 4. P. 121–138.

Òåêñò ñòàòüè íà ñàéòå æóðíàëà URL: https://www.monitoringjournal.ru/index.php/monitoring/article/view/1831 (äàòà îáðàùåíèÿ 10.01.2022)

Abstract

Based  on  the  data  from  all-­Russian surveys carried out by the Insti­tute of Sociology of the FCTAS RAS, the paper shows that the level of economic, qualification, power and social resources among Russians is very low: a quarter of the population do not have any of them, and a third part have only one. The pop­ulation resourcefulness is gradually de­creasing — in 2008–2020, the share of the group with no resources increased in relative terms by almost one third, and the highly resourceful group decreased by 21%. The last economic crisis caused by the pandemic significantly contribut­ed to that. The share of those who have savings has decreased while the share of those have creditor-­debitor burden has sharply increased accompanied by the deterioration of the group structure. In parallel, the number of individuals who are  able  to  receive  support  from  their  social  surroundings  to  cope  with  life  problems have decreased and the same goes for those have power resources, es­pecially potential to influence at work. As for the qualification resource, although the  number  of  people  with  higher  ed­ucation  has  grown  significantly  during  this time, their incomes have relatively dropped  and  the  role  of  this  resource  in ensuring the well-­being of Russians has decreased. All this indicates that the “safety margin” of the country's popula­tion has decreased under the influence of a series of economic crises of various nature. Judging  by  the  stability  of  this  trend, it will continue in the future. Taking into account priorities of the social policy of Russia we conclude that for the evo­lution of the social structure of Russian society this means an intensification of trends that have been traced in recent years:  a  gradual  increase  in  the  share  of “lower classes” with the domination of shallow poverty among them; stabil­ity of the share of middle strata against the background of increasing instability in their status, and, finally, the decrease of the mass population strata which can be the foundation to develop the middle class  in  Russia.  Among  significant  im­pacts of the decline in the resourcefull­ness of Russians is the inevitable growth of  depressive,  aggressive  and  protest  moods among them.